Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc.’s power to wield
customer data should be taken into account by European Union
regulators as settlement talks on an antitrust probe reach the
final stages, a consumer rights group said.

The dominance of Google is “largely fueled by its access
to users’ personal data,” Monique Goyens, director general of
the European consumers’ association BEUC, said in a letter to
Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s antitrust chief.

“The privacy policy of Google is directly linked to its
dominance in the online search and should therefore be
considered as an aggravating factor in your analysis,” Goyens
said in the letter dated today.

While the EU negotiates with Google to resolve an antitrust
dispute over allegations that the owner of the world’s largest
search engine discriminates against rivals, the company has
clashed with data-protection watchdogs. Earlier this month, the
EU urged Google to fix flaws in its updated privacy policy or
face possible fines. Authorities worldwide have also fretted
over privacy lapses with Google’s Street View mapping service.

Almunia has said the company has a limited time to settle
the antitrust probe into whether it thwarts competition in the
market for Web searches.

“As discussions on a possible settlement with Google are
at an advanced stage, we would like to convey our concerns as
regards the remedies under consideration,” Goyens wrote to the
Brussels-based commission.

‘Rigorous Remedies’

“Infringements of competition rules call for strong and
rigorous remedies which go beyond the field of consumer
information,” she said.

Al Verney, a spokesman for Google in Brussels, said the
company continues “to work cooperatively with the commission.”

At issue are Google’s promotion of its own specialist
search services, copying of rivals’ travel and restaurant
reviews, and agreements with websites and software developers
that may stifle competition in the advertising industry, Almunia
said in May. Talks with Google are “ongoing on the basis” of
those concerns, said Antoine Colombani, a competition commission
spokesman.

Consumer associations represented by BEUC “may be directly
affected by Google’s practices,” Goyens wrote. The groups’
price comparison websites inform people on products and services
and “are in direct competition with Google’s own services.”